2015 Philadelphia Theater Critic’s Awards — THE RECIPIENTS

Theatergoing is a pleasant and relatively safe gamble.

You never know when you’re going to see a special production or performance that is extraordinary beyond expectation. I didn’t know the name Kingsley Ibeneche before I entered Theatre Horizon to see “Black Nativity,” but now that I know of Mr. Ibeneche’s abundant talent, I will seek out dance programs in which he participates.

I rank productions, directors, and performers because it’s interesting to me to see who, in particular, excelled in a given year. The recipient of the Philadelphia Theater Critic’s Award, given since 1969, is one person’s choice, my choice as the best in a given theatrical year. You want to know the irony? If I announced that Number 20 or Number 50 from my rankings earned the Award, most theater fans would regard the recipient as a logical choice. That’s how good theater is in Philadelphia. It makes room for a lot of excellence.

Narrowing any year’s list from more than 100 qualifiers to 30 cited positions and from 30 outstanding efforts to five, then, finally, one, is more daunting and arduous than you can think. And heartbreaking. I want to congratulate everyone. That’s why I publish the Qualifiers, so all whose names were considered can see that his or her performance is noted and appreciated. I don’t want to whine like Mandy Patinkin at a keyboard, but I find it worth the exercise to go over each production of a year and think about who had a breakthrough performance, who led and guided a production, who went beyond being a triple threat in creating a role, and who created a meaningful character that goes beyond any scribbles on a page to be the essence of live performance.

I am given to hyperbole, and it may sound as if I’m overstating, but on a given night at a given show, more than the usual magic can happen. The recipients, the nominees, and the Top 30 in each category personify magic that only occurs when one live person exudes humanity by enlightening and entertaining others grandly.

Congratulations to Mr. Canuso, Mr. Scammell, Ms. Jah, Mr. Blouch, and Ms. Heebink. Four of you showed new depth beyond the fine work you’ve all revealed in the past. The fifth, Marieke Heebink displayed extraordinary intensity that filled the 23rd Street Armory stage with emotion and human sensibility. Jake Blouch showed great range as he maintained cool urbanity and uncrackable imperturbability as Nick in Exile’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” then sported de rigueur kilts and a Scottish burr, along with a combination of nonchalance and perfectionism, as the comic assassin in Act II’s “Unnecessary Farce.” Mr. Blouch also scored as the disillusioned jaded soldier in James J. Christy, Jr.’s “A Great War” for Iron Pig.

Matteo Scammell embodied the angst and resentment of Yank, the merchant seaman spurned by a debutante because of his class. It looked as if veins would burst in Mr. Scammell’s neck as he roared his rage at an unfair world. By contrast, Mr. Scammell can play both the mild, conciliatory child in Whit MacLaughlin’s “Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates” for the Arden while also portraying a supercilious administrative assistant who almost causes the Brinkers more years of suffering by keeping the doctor he serves from the family. Zainab Jah is a wonder in general. Her performance as Prudence in the Wilma’s “The Convert” continues to reverberate in my memory, and her Hamlet brimmed with thoughtfulness and intelligence. Ms. Zah was even magnificent is a small part in “Antony and Cleopatra” at McCarter Theatre.

Joe Canuso, a director who always infuses his productions with precision and detail showed how well he understood Albee’s George and Martha and directed his cast to remain on an emotionally human scale while being aware of their superiority at gamesmanship. The wit and sophistication of the production comes through as well as the daunting viciousness cultivated by the bored and idle inteligensia. Mr. Canuso and his company, all of whom are cited, showed how intensity and cunning can be hilariously entertaining and piercingly ugly at once.

To Jeff Coon, Fran Prisco, J.P. Dunphy, and the various guests who joined them in 2015 as they continued Jeff’s magnificent entertainment invention, The Cape May Summer Club.Long may they wave!!!

To Bruce Graham, whose craft and versatility, as well as his prolific output, were demonstrated in 2015 in a fresh look at a past work. According to Goldman, showed brightly in new works, Stella and Lou and Rizzo, and offer promise in scripts heard at readings, Funnyman and White Guy on the Bus, which will be produced in 2016 by Arden Theatre and Passage Theatre respectively.

To Sheldon K. Jackson, who had never appeared on a stage in any semblance of a major role and riveted audiences in a classic role associated with Sidney Poitier and Denzel Washington, no less than Walter Lee Younger in the ActorsNET production of Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun.

To the remarkable child actress billed as Lexy Gwynn when she astounded with her naturalness in the unnatural part of Helen Keller in the Media Theatre’s The Miracle Worker, and became Alexis Gwynn when she gave a poised, comic turn that outshined most of the experience adult actors sharing the stage with her in the Walnut Street Theatre’s High Society. Ms. Gwynn next plays Scout Finch in the Media’s To Kill a Mockingbird. If she continues performing on the level she has, we’ll have a formidable ingénue and future lead actress in our midst.

To four other remarkable young performers, J.D. Triolo, already in his fourth season that shows professional development, prodigious talent, and a strong ability to complete an ensemble, and his fellow child stars — Brandon Ranalli, Gunar Daniels, and Nathan Esser — who showed moxie and more in the Media Theatre production of Billy Elliot. Daniels was giving his first performance on a professional stage. Esser had made a previous impression in performance, and rehearsal, of Bristol Riverside’s An Enemy of the People, and Ranalli displayed depth in a difficult role. The hope is all four of these young men will continue and have wonderful adult careers on theater and dance stages.

To Paul Meshejian for his sincere pioneering effort to help fledgling works find their way to completion and grace national stages. Meshejian’s incubator, Playpenn, showed remarkable catholicity of range in the works it chose to showcase in 2015. One plays, Oslo, by J.T. Rogers, was cited among the Philadelphia Theater Critic’s Awards Top 40, and is eagerly awaited in finished form and full production.